


solid ground beneath you

by oathofsilence



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Queer Themes, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 16:50:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4632777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oathofsilence/pseuds/oathofsilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry is quiet but still manages to get into fights. Eddie is soft-spoken and one of the people Barry enjoys talking to. They fit together well as they help each other break out of their shells and discover themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	solid ground beneath you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pettigrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettigrace/gifts).



After Barry had lost his mother and his father got imprisoned, life got hard for him. There had been a lot of questioning from police, where no one believed him, conversations with therapists (who tried to empathize but Barry could feel they didn't believe him either) and a lot of people who Barry either barely knew or didn't know at all that had just heard about what happened and wanted to get an exclusive interview from him, apparently. So Barry, more or less consciously, decided to become quiet. Maybe if people knew he didn't speak much and just perceived him as shy or even weird, they'd just leave him alone. And it did work, sort of.

Barry mostly kept to himself, except when he was with Iris. Iris' father, Joe, had taken Barry in after his mother's death and so Iris became his best friend. Iris had never asked intrusive questions - maybe because she got the answers from Joe - or made Barry feel weird about what he had seen. She might not believe him, especially the older the got, but she was still always supportive of Barry. He was grateful to be able to talk to and be open with someone. Looking back on it, it was really impressive how someone so young was this considerate. Especially when some people don't acquire that quality in their entire lives. 

When high school started, Barry and Iris' ways parted, at least academically, so Barry had no one at his new school. He had really wanted to attend this school though, since he had heard about their amazing science programs, which he liked and also needed in order to fulfill his future plans. So they made that sacrifice, even if it meant spending less time with each other.

It didn't take Barry long to regain his reputation of “that geek kid who never talks”. He didn't mind too much, although at this point he was really just used to not engaging in conversation as opposed to it being self-defense or a coping mechanism. Barely anyone nowadays, specially his age, remembered the name Barry Allen anymore, so they didn't ask him about his childhood trauma.  
Even if he wanted to, which, granted, he sometimes really did, he just couldn't bring himself to talk to people. At least not on his own account. He wasn't being rude – if someone talked to him, he'd usually give a short reply – but he just couldn't possibly start conversations. Not that there were that many people that seemed nice enough to talk to, anyway.  
The one instance where Barry couldn't keep his mouth shut was when he saw injustice. Which, obviously, was the smartest choice he could make: scrawny, geeky, Barry Allen suddenly speaking up and standing up to bullies. One can imagine how that almost always ended. Joe, Iris, his teachers and Barry's father were at all a loss about this behaviour.  
Barry kind of was, too.

Not even three weeks after his first year of high school started, Barry ended up with a bloody nose. Some jocks, clearly stronger, bigger and faster than him, were trying to get another kid's lunch money or something equally shitty, so Barry naturally stepped in.  
He might be in pain and his nose might be bleeding and he might be in for a scolding at home now, but those bullies didn't get what they wanted, so this was a success. A big one.

He was sitting on a patch of dry grass, leaning against the grey tinted wall of the school building. His head hurt from the punches to his face and his nose started bleeding anew whenever he thought he was on the safe side now. How many tissues is one human allowed to use in a day?  
For what felt like the thousandth time, a drop of blood just barely missed Barry's pants and with a sigh he shoved another tissue in his face and leaned his head against the cool wall, closing his eyes.  
“Fuck.”  
“Watch out; you need a new tissue, Allen”, a silvery voice came from slightly above and next to Barry, making him open his eyes, slightly alarmed for a second.  
Standing before him was a blonde kid in a black-white striped shirt and some dark knee-long shorts. Barry remembered seeing them in class sometimes, he couldn't for the life of him remember their name though.  
“Come on, take it”, they said with a smile, waving a tissue in front of Barry's face. Barry did as asked.  
The blonde sat down next to him, keeping his distance. Barry liked that.  
“Hey, what you did back there, that was really cool. Brave. Didn't take you for the fighting type.”  
Barry smiled wryly. “I'm not a fighter. I just seem to have some kind of deathwish when I see jerks around.”  
Out of the corner of his eye he saw that earned him a bright grin.  
“You're pretty quick-witted when you decide to talk.”  
They were silent for a bit, until Barry started fidgeting trying to think of how to say this.  
“Um... listen. I don't want to be rude, but.. what's your name again?”  
He didn't expect to be flashed another grin or be extended a hand, but both these things happened.  
“No problem. I'm Eddie.”  
He also hadn't expected that Eddie would have such nice eyes. Barry took his hand.  
“Barry. Oh, and thanks for the tissue.”

**Author's Note:**

> this could have been up fifteen trillion hours earlier but then my friends and i discussed which characters would like which wrestlers. amazing  
> anyway i'd appreciate any sort of feedback!!  
> my tumblr is genvalinor.tumblr.com


End file.
